Toddlers would get free preschool. College students with a B-average would get $1,000 tax credits. And if things work out the way he plans, satisfied voters would re-elect Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in November.

A recovering economy and a burning desire to get re-elected propelled Mr. Blagojevich into the role of Lord Bountiful during his annual budget message last week. But legislative Republican realists hooted and jeered as Mr. Blagojevich baldly claimed to have balanced the budget and eased the state's monstrous pension debt. Wishful thinking.

Illinois was slow to recover from the 2001 recession, but the state economy finally slipped into gear last year. As a result, the state expects a $935 million increase in revenue. That will finance much of the governor's wish list. The rest would come from tax hikes on business and smokers and, as always with this governor, some financial sleight of hand.

Mr. Blagojevich wants modest increases for public schools and universities. One-quarter of the $400 million increase in public school aid is destined for Chicago. It desperately needs the money, but that raises a question of fairness for school children who live downstate. The governor's $90 million plan to provide free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds needs to be pared down to reflect that fact that Head Start already serves thousands of youngsters at the low end of the economic scale, and those at the high end have parents who can afford to pay.

The governor also wants: $90 million for tax credits for every college student with a B-average; smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade; economic aid for river towns such as Alton and East St. Louis; more money for veterans, nursing students and people who buy fuel-efficient cars and more for stem cell research.

Mr. Blagojevich would pay for these and other goodies through $127 million in tax hikes on business, although he prefers to call them loophole closings. Schools are a wonderful investment. They're worth higher taxes, but the burden should be shared by business and individuals. Rewards for academic achievement should be based on need; B students with wealthy parents don't need taxpayers' help. And raising $90 million for the $1,000 tax credit by selling assets from Illinois' low-cost student loan program only makes sense if that doesn't result in higher loan rates for tens of thousands of needy Illinois college students.

Mr. Blagojevich hasn't really balanced the budget. The $55 billion spending plan still shorts the troubled pension system by more than $1 billion, as has every governor's budget for more than a decade. Critics claim that Mr. Blagojevich is also delaying payments to Medicaid providers to make the budget numbers work. Until he has hard numbers to support his largesse, the public should view Mr. Blagojevich's grand plans with a healthy skepticism.

Fiscal conservatives of both parties must rein him in. Despite a tendency to spend money he doesn't have, his philosophy of compassionate government has helped the people of Illinois through a very difficult three years. About 400,000 more people, mainly children, have health coverage because of his programs. The governor also has managed to wring a few efficiencies out of the state bureaucracy.

These are real public benefits of which any governor should be proud.

- St. Louis Post-Dispatch